Clubs Books

This is a marvellous book - Rafael Sabatini meets P.G. Wodehouse, humour and adventure and elegance and, yes, romance, perhaps the best of the early-style swashbuckling Heyers, and the first of a series continued with "Devil's Cub" and "An Infamous Army."

But won't someone, ONCE, get the covers right? What is this chichi sub-Tissot Regency pap? This books takes place in the 1750s in England and France, less than 10 years after the Jacobite uprising and Culloden. Madame de Pompadour has a cameo. This coy illustration (really, only fluffy kittens are missing) would have INFURIATED Georgette Heyer. Tchah!

I did not think I could like a May/December romance. I was wrong. The hero is dark - he needs redemption. He finds it in a sprite of a heroine who needs to save someone. It's wonderful.

True to Heyer's style, this regency romance has humor, mystery, and romance. The romance is clean enough for your teenage girls and sophisticated enough for your grandmother.

This Heyer book has it all. A little bit of mystery, a lot of humour, and romance.

Justin Alastair is the Duke of Avon and he is the hero in this story. He is jaded and has lived a life of hedonistic pleasures and vices. He is always coolly aloof, never one to indulge into a fit of temper, and has the most dry sense of humour that is very amusing. He is not known as the kindest of gentlemen, being known by his peers as "Satanas" (or Devil), he has quite the black reputation.

While in France, by chance he comes across a young boy in the back streets of Paris as the boy is being chased by his older brother. The Duke takes pity on the boy and buys him from his sibling and takes him to his residence near-by. Needless to say, the boy is no boy but a girl, the heroine named Leonie. The heroine is quite young, in comparison to the hero, but her mischief and innocence is captivating. Her charm is her youthful exuberance and honesty and unaffectedness.

Alastair sets up the "boy" as his page and as the story unfolds it becomes clear that the Duke did not take Leonie in out of the kindness of his heart, but that he has other more ulterior motives in mind. Namely, to use her in his game of vendetta against another, a French nobleman he crossed paths 20 years before.

Though I've read this type of plotline before (the innocent and young heroine, masquerading as a boy, being saved by the hero), what makes this novel different is the secondary characters and the feel of the novel (as if it has been lifted straight out of mid/late 18th century France and England).

One of my favorite secondary characters is Lord Rupert Alastair, younger brother of the hero. Rupert is an irrepressible young man, very passionate and always ready to joke and make fun. He acts as comic relief and on more than one occassion I found myself laughing aloud at his behavior and words.

Anyways, this is a great book to start out with Heyer. It is fast moving and you'll find it hard to put down once you start reading!

I realize that Georgette Heyer is a woman's author, but I still feel compelled to suggest this to anyone who likes to escape into wonderful humor regardsless of the reader's sex. Many years ago my wife picked up a book by this writer, read it in one night, and insisted on getting everything else available. After being kept awake by her night long bouts of laughter, I decided I could either get angry or join the fun. This book was so good that I smuggled the sequel {Devil's Cub, which I heartily recommend) onto the subway in a plain brown wrapper and amazed the other riders by rolling off the seat by the humor of the book. Is it roamntic? I don't know, maybe. What I do know is if you don't find the characters and events of this book funny, your sense of humor needs some serious help. Get yourself a paper bag and enjoy yourself.

I thoroughly have enjoyed this book, looking at the people from around the world and their possessions and realizing how different I live from another. It was amazing to see each family so proud, of either how little they have or how much they have, and to have all that they own on display (from in the dead of winter to floating on a boat!).

This book is absolutely a wake-up call for many people out there who think they don't have enough! Beautifully put together. Outstanding.

Material World by Peter Menzel is one of the most exciting and informative books I have come across in a long time . No other book I have ever read has given me such in depth knowledge of the lives and circumstances of people living in other countries around the globe. The photographs are breathtakingly beautiful and the statistics are fascinating. Ursula Michelson, author of Alzheimers Patients in the Nursing Home: How Well Do Caregivers Meet Their Needs?

This book is a fascinating look at materialism, or the lack of it, around the world. Oddly enough, the American family was not the most obviously materialistic; there was a Saudi family with a 42 foot long couch! I have put this gorgeously photographed book in my classroom for independant reading time for my 9th graders. It is filled with statistics, information about the countries and the families and the stories of the photographers themselves. Also check out The Hungry Planet, a visual look at what people around the world eat, photographed and written by the same authors of Material World.

"Material World," written during the 1990 U.N. International Year of the Family, is a major achievement and, although it can seem dated in areas, is still timely and relevant for our world today.

Profiling 30 families from across a wide spectrum of the 183 U.N. member states, "Material World" depicts these families' struggles and triumphs in words, pictures, and statistics. Many of these vignettes are uplifting--the Cuban family holding on to each other as their nation suffers through communism--and many are very saddening--the three Carballo children sleeping in fear of being robbed each night. It is highly useful in perspective building and also a good way to see how others live elsewhere in the world. It is not going to make one "proud to be an American," but it is also not an "America-bashing" book. "Material World" demonstrates very powerfully the old proverb: 'It's not getting what you want, it's wanting what you've got.'

The Albanian family, with its minute amount of belongings; the Brazilian family, struggling to survive the slums; the Mexican sisters, window shopping before getting the very special treat of an ice cream bar--all exemplify this ideal. The children are in particular very inspiring, rising as they do above the conditions many sadly live in. This is their life, their daily bread--and in a powerful example, they make the most of it.

"Material World" is inspiring, beautiful, and still timely, even over ten years after its publication.

If you're looking for concise, simple dialogue on what it means to be effective and how to parlay that into your work life, here it is. If you are looking for a fashionable, faddy, flashy Seth-Godin-type mantra to chant, you will be vastly disappointed and fantastically bored.

To those who are serious students of business and it's execution and are willing to do what it takes to be leaders, this is one of probably 3-5 books on the required reading list. Read through it quickly at your own peril, for amazing gems are buried mid-paragraph in the most seemingly innocuous paragraphs.

Now for the love of effectiveness, please buy, read and apply this to yourself so I don't have to do business with you sloths anymore!

Very good book on the true management skills required by any and every manager. Drucker clearly points out that not all great managers were created the same....but most share certain traits. An excellent, must read for any and all managers everywhere!

Excellent advice from a incredible coach. From time management to management contribution this book offers what you need to achieve management positions. A must.

Peter Drucker was such a prolific and important writer, thinker, researcher, teacher, and philosopher! Although he is best known a the father of modern management theory, I find that his ideas are applicable to a wide variety of positions and enterprises.

The Effective Executive, like most of his works, is written with the assumption that the reader is part of an institution and needs to learn to function within the challenges of the corporate environment. I have never had a traditional job or position in a large institution, but can totally relate to the challenges of what Drucker refers to as executives and knowledge workers.

As a professional musician and holistic music teacher ([...]), I have worked to integrate the creative, intuitive sides of human nature with the organizational, rational aspects, both for myself and my clients.

Like many artists, I was never taught the principals of management and have had to adapt and educate myself along the way. I owe a lot to Peter Drucker for helping me make sense of the nature of effectiveness and management.

Drucker's wisdom transcends culture and industry. Just the acknowledgement that effectiveness is a skill in-and-of-itself, apart from intelligence, talent, charisma, or creativity, is a powerful distinction. His encouragement that it can be (and must be) learned is a relief!

His 5 basic practices for effective executives are invaluable insights. Here they are, paraphrased:

1) Be aware of and manage your time
2) Focus on results, not efforts
3) Play to and develop strengths, not weaknesses (yours and others')
4) Concentrate and align your actions and your purpose
5) Learn to make good decisions

The examples in the book are a bit old-school, but the principles still hold true. Thank you, Peter, for putting into words what so many of us were never taught at home or in school!

Peter Drucker wrote this book back in 1966 and it is as pertinent today as it was then. It concentrates on a small number of practices to help executives manage themselves - a precursor to managing others. Drucker makes the point that, "No one is born an effective executive. No one is a natural... It must be learned...In addition, it is not exceedingly difficult." That's welcome news for all of us. We simply need to follow the practices outlined in this book.

The book is meant for a wide audience as Drucker's definition of the executive is broad - "Anyone that is responsible for a contribution that materially affects the capacity of the organization to perform and to obtain results."

The first step on the journey is to "know thy time." Too many managers have no idea where they spend there time. Drucker recommends managers start by recording their time to discover where it is being spent. Once identified, they need to stop wasting time on things that are not important and then work to consolidate freed time into chunks. Significant blocks of time of 2 hours or so are needed to complete important things.

Next executives must ask of themselves, "What can I contribute that will significantly affect the performance and results of the organization." This helps the manager look outward and to identify and prioritize those tasks that are most important to complete.

Then the managers should do the first things first and do them one at a time. "The secret of those people who do so many things and apparently so many difficult things is that they do only one thing at a time. As a result, they need much less time in the end than the rest of us."

Finally, Drucker outlines how to make effective decisions. He craftily breaks down the elements of the decision process and explains how managers can improve in this discipline.

The book is filled with examples and supporting information. Drucker writes in a refreshingly honest and straightforward style. Many refer to this book as a classic. It is worthy of the designation. So much of what is written today is borrowed from Drucker. Managers can not go wrong adding this one to their arsenal of tools.

-- Nick McCormick - Author, Lead Well and Prosper: 15 Successful Strategies for Becoming a Good Manager

This book is simply sublime. I had it as a child, got it for my own children over 25 years ago, and now am buying a copy for my new grandson. Everything about this book is wonderful!

This classic picture book details the lives of the Mallard family in the Public Garden of Boston. This is an excellent read for kids of all ages, and is a good introduction to Caledecott books.

Mr. and Mrs. Mallard explore all the nooks and crannies of Boston and the Back Bay, before settling on the perfect place to raise their family. A true love letter to the Boston of 60 years ago (complete with Irish cops!), it is a classic that speaks to people from everywhere, and families worldwide, on the love and nurturing that parents show for their children.

This book was read to me, and I read it endlessly to my little sister and my daughter. Now I am reading it to my great-nephew, age three and a half, who fell instantly in love with it. He always lets out a little "whew!" of relief when Mrs Mallard and the ducklings make it through the gates of the Public Gardens. After about the fourth reading (there were two on that particular day) we went to a little park nearby where he insisted on playing out the story with me, complete with Mr and Mrs Mallard's dialogue. It is a ritual now.

This is an astonishingly involving book for small children. There is a practical but manageable level of threat (of traffic, which is very real and genuinely important for three and four year olds) with the assurance of adult help when it is needed, and the constant reassurance that they are being looked after. And adults can read it forever without getting bored!

This is the turtle back book. It is glued and stitched. It should hold up. If this book is going to get alot of use spend the few dollars more and get the turtle back.

This book is incredible! full of such great life changing things, it will change the way you think and the way you view the power of your own thoughts! very remarkable

This book is really wonderful. A definite read. The chapters are short, written in big writing and the message and positive living and her own experiences and her learning makes this an amazing book. Living for Christ and worshiopping and her own beliefs sharing them that has helped her in writing this book and sharing with others how to do and live the same ways for a peaceful and joyous life. I love it and plan on reading this book again.

I am repeatedly blown away by this book! It has been so helpful to me personally, and I share it with those I love. I would read certain sections, and literally, my jaw would drop. This book really put all the pieces together for me; it makes complete sense. I am only 21 and feel I am lucky, not only because my mother gave me this book, but also because I have truly understood it at a relatively young age. "Remembering Wholeness" is eye opening and empowering at the same time. One of my favorite chapters is the one titled, "The Universe is Abundant"...definitely one of those jaw-dropping sections!!
A MUST-READ!!! :)

The concepts of choosing to do things to each other here on earth that would cause us to have to forgive is not a concept of God "brokering" these contracts. That seems a little exaggerated. The idea behind the "little spirit" is simply this. When we choose to see our perpetrators as something other than perpetrators it becomes easier to forgive them.

We choose to do things that require forgiveness all the time, sometimes out of ignorance and regretfully on purpose, but on some level, we CHOSE to do it. Do I believe that we make contracts with each other to inflict pain and suffering before we came to earth? No, but it was a given that we would submit to evil, and do things that would require forgiveness and when we can see our offenders as perfect spirits who have been caught in evil, it is so much easier to forgive and let God handle it.

There is darkness and light in every book written by the hand of man. He who seeks for fault will find it, he who seeks for truth will find it as well. No one should claim this book to be scripture, and ANYTHING written by men is "the philosophies of men mingled with scripture" unless otherwise specified as scripture. Look at the light this book brings. I have had multiple personal experiences of transformational healing for myself my family and my clients as a Rapid Eye Technician and Life Coach. The concepts of this book can bring people to Christ. Carol has a gift in making practical sense out of vague concepts. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water, see the fruits, they are there.

This book has answered so many long held questions with perfect clarity and understanding.

I've been studing the law of attraction for over 6 years and find this book to fill in the spiritual aspects that seemed to be missing from so many other authors and teachers.

Thank you Carol for your wisdom and gifts.

I read "Common Sons" in a day. It was definitely an engaging story and it packed an emotional whallop. It would be wonderful if everyone regardless of their sexual orientation could read this story and understand the challenges same gender loving persons have to face in their quests for happiness and acceptance. Unfortunately, the same fear and ignorance that was demonstrated by some of the residents of Common New Mexico is present all over America. Countless young adults will undoubtedly face the same obstacles as they seek acceptance of who they are and assert their right to live openly without judgement from others.

Overall this book was good. However there were parts where I wondered who edited it, only because sentance flow was not that good. Odds are I would have skipped over the sentance problems if I had really been pulled into the story. Although I had trouble putting the book down after I started, the characters weren't real enough for the story to just suck me into it.

Like I said before, overall this is a good book, and it is worth the read.

The Year is 1965, the location a small town in New Mexico; Joel is seventeen years old and living on his families farm, Tom is a little older, the son of the local church minister; they have been best friends almost since Tom arrived in town about a year ago. But when, sitting around a crowded table of school friends at a local dance, Tom drunkenly kisses Joel (and later consummates his professed love), it unleashes a chain reaction of troubles.
Initially Tom, troubled by his Bible trained conscience instilled in him by his strict father, tries to dismiss the events; but Joel is not so easily put off. His brief experience with Tom, when he compares it to his abortive attempts with girls, brings him to the realisation that he must be attracted to men. But will he be able to convince Tom that they have a future together even if he can get past the curfew Tom's father has imposed on his son for drunkenness? How will their respective parents react if they learn of the boys' true inclinations? How will their friends, Tom's fellow church members and the narrow-minded townsfolk in their small community respond?
The story follows the relationship of the two boys and the reaction of those around them in the year following that careless kiss, the difficulties they encounter as they try to accept their love for one another and remain together. Tom and Joel are each very likeable characters, physically attractive, mature for their years and caring. The characters around them are well described and range from the supportive to the duplicitous and the actively hostile.
This is a heart-warming love story, maybe a little improbable at times, but the overall idea is very appealing. I feel it suffers occasionally in the telling; the writing, while very descriptive, is at times rather dry; but that aside it is well worth reading.

This is my most favorite book I have ever read. I Have read it several times over the last 12 years and enjoy it every time. Ronald(author) takes you there with these boys. It's a movie I love to watch over and over again. Common boys, true love.

Common Sons was a great, easy read. I enjoyed it very much. I think that Common Sons is an important book for the gay community. It inspires hope in the reader. That no matter what we go through, we can make it...We Shall Over Come... Read this book it is fantastic!

A pleasure to review. Wonderful illustration talent (a là Bill Watterson), with a deranged humor we've never seen before. One can read the same comic over and over again, and continue to laugh. And because Nicholas Gurewitch has announced a semi-retirement, we may have to.

Nicholas Gurewitch's Perry Bible Fellowship is a refreshing exception among webcomics: it combines good ideas, great visuals (most webcomics seem to manage just one of these two) and twisted humor that has more than just shock value.

Not that it's all perfect: some of the strips are - in all honesty - quite mediocre. But when PBF hits the mark, it is just about the funniest thing around. If you're not already familiar with the comic, you should just read it on the official website to see if this is your thing.

This Dark Horse collection has all the PBF strips up until its publication and some previously unseen material as well. The overall quality is very good and does justice to Gurewitch's visual stylings. What I missed was more background: information about the author, origins of the comic, how the whole phenomenon grew online. In my opinion, it would be nice to have something more than hard covers (good as they might look) around the things that are already available for free online.

However, I don't regret my purchase one bit. The price was right, the book looks good and, most importantly, the content is great. I just wish there would have been a bit more of it.

I've been reading the Perry Bible Fellowship for a few years now and I was looking forward to this book. It's just as good as I hopped it would be. These are the best strips I've ever read anywhere. The humor is hilarious from every direction. At 10 bucks, you can't afford not to have this book.

If you could somehow harness the powers of pure awesomeness (even more rare than dark matter) and contain it in the form a book, this would be the end result...

Proudly display it on your coffee table, or wear it around your neck; just spread the word of PBF!!! Either way, it is by far one of the best Graphic Novels you will have ever owned.

Ever!!!

I'd read a lot of these comics on The Perry Bible Fellowship website, but my goodness, it is just so good having them all printed in a lush, glossy-paged book. Truly, the sick humor comes to life in a way that the internet simply could not dream of. Buy this book. Seriously. You won't be sorry.

My boyfriend's father convinced me that, as an art history major, I needed to read this book. I was a little hesitant, but after the first chapter I was completely hooked.

This was a truly powerful book. No matter that it is not a true biography, it was beautifully written and moving. I would recommend this to anyone with even a passing interest in art.

Amazing book and so very well written as all of Stone's other books are...I have always been mesmerised by Van Gogh's paintings, especially when I saw an exhibit of his in London.The colours were so wonderful that I just stood there infront of those pieces of art like a zombie ! I loved this book !

I loved this book. For someone like me, with just a passing knowledge of art and art history, it was pretty amazing to learn about Van Gogh's development as an artist and the Impressionist art movement. In addition, I think that its two major themes of expression and immortality are going to have a lasting effect on me.

By expression, I mean that Van Gogh put all his time and energy into expressing himself in a way that he felt was making the best use of his skills. For him, his calling was a new form of art, and he stuck with it despite receiving no recognition or profit for his work during his lifetime. By immortality, I mean that although Van Gogh was not successful in his lifetime, his work lives on and is hung in the most important museums in the world.

Highly recommended.

This is a beautiful novel about a beautiful human being. If you love Van Gogh's paintings (he is my personal favorite of all painters) then by all means, you need to read this wonderful book. In his prose, Stone is able to paint a vivid, vibrant, illuminating portrait of an amazing artist. I was truly blown away and completely consumed from the first chapter on. I actually read this fine story after visiting the Musee d'Orsay (Museum Orsay) in Paris and seeing first hand the magnificent works of this illustrious Impressionist. Of all the great many paintings presented at the Louvre and d'Orsay, it was the Van Gogh's that captivated me more than all the others (which is saying a lot, because the whole place is captivating!). I couldn't believe some of his self-portraits. What really fascinated me the most was the despondency in those steel blue eyes of his. This is what led me to read this story. I wanted to know where all that pain and suffering came from. Irving Stone answered all of my questions and then some. He is a brilliant and insightful writer and I will be looking forward to reading his novel "The Agony and the Ecstasy" which is based on the life of another favorite artist of mine - Michelangelo.

Anyone who is struggling to become an artist needs to read this! Talk about sacrifice and desire and heart and passion... this man Van Gogh was a true original. A man like no other before or since.

"...for by sadness the countenance of the heart is made better."

I can't recommend this one enough.

I should have read this biography sooner. I used to be in love with his paintings, and even fantasized that IF I were to travel back in time, I would've married him -- all this BEFORE I read this book. After I read it I found out that there was one such infatuated woman (Margot), and also a tragic unrequited love story that led him to religion and then to painting. Anyone who is creative will sympathize with the extent to which pain can be transformed into the strength to create. The creative path is not always materially rewarding, and even if it is all an artist has, it will continuously change others' lives. I absorbed every word of this book and was hooked until the very end. Poverty and disinterest is ephemeral... belief in oneself is revolutionary.

I thought this book was so sad. Mary Anne loses everything- only a few things survied. Mary Anne is woke up in the middle of the night by her cat Tigger. She didn't even cry about it. Finally at the very end, she decides to cry. I would have to say, if you are like Mary Anne, and you cry allot. Don't read this book.

I cannot believe Mary Anne's house burned down! She and Dawn were VERY upset. But I can't figure out why Mary Anne could not cry. She normally cries right when she SEES something sad or cute. Or even HEARS about it. Finally one night she is able to cry. Dawn cried when she got one look at the house. I was glad they got to save A FEW things even if they weren't worth very much. I an VERY glad Tigger woke Mary Anne up. She might not have gotten out in time if he hadn't. I loved the book.

I know just how Mary-Anne feels. Our house burned down a year ago. I lost everything-including old letters (I'm like Mary-Anne and, the worst, pictures and things of my older brother, whom died when I was 7. So I know it was really hard for Mary-Anne. I cry when I read this book and I feel like Mary-Anne and I are crying together.But life goes on and changes happen-to Mary-Anne and the whole BSC (And We Love Kids Club too!)

In this book, Mary Anne's house burned down due to faulty kitchen wiring. She's very upset and in total shock. She loved the colonial farmhouse she moved to with her father after his marriage to Dawn's mother. Mary Anne loses almost everything during the fire. Her clothes, books, diaries, letters, pictures, etc. are gone, but she found some jewelry, her mom's picture, and her recent diary. Even though I've never liked Dawn, I'm glad she came to CT to comfort her family. Dawn was pretty upset about the fire. Even though she mostly hated CT, she loved the old farmhouse, the barn, and the secret passage. (the barn didn't burn down, but the secret passage from her room is gone!) I'm glad that Mary Anne finally cried about the fire, after her long shellshocked spell and she's hoping for some positive changes in her future. She doesn't want to move to Philidelpia, where her dad was offered a new job there. It's great that Kristy and her family took in Mary Anne and her parents and that the club and other neighbors comforted and donated lost items from the fire. It was a great book, but I cried my eyes out when Mary Anne lost her house and felt lost. I think she's a strong, brave girl who dealt with a lot of tough events in her life. I'm glad that Mary Anne, her dad, her stepmom, and her cat Tigger got out of the house safely. During a house fire, the number one thing is to get people out of the house and not try to save possessions. I give this book a 10.

Mary Anne's house burned bacause of wiring. Mary Anne almost loses everything like clothes, books.... Dawn was pretty upset when she heard that Mary Anne's house burned. Where Will Mary Anne live?. Will the Baby Sitters help her?

I loved this book as a child and now my 2 year old loves it too. This book tells the story of Harry, who hates baths. He hates them so much that he buries his brush and (temporarily) runs away from home. He plays and gets so dirty that his family thinks he is a different dog entirely. The story is sweet and simple enough for my 2 year old to enjoy, but not so simple that it's boring or babyish.

This book was my Daughter's favorite when she was a toddler, I must have read it a thousand times! She just had a Daughter of her own and I thought she might like it to read to her little girl.
Ben

I absolutely adored this book when I was little, so of course I was pleased when one of my first graders picked it up at the school library and beged me to read it for our class read-aloud this afternoon. Since we have recently discussed thinking about characters' emotions as we read, this was a perfect exercise--the text never actually says just what the cute little dog Harry is feeling during his adventure of getting dirty. And if you think about it, his tale is quite poignant. Anway, comprehension lessons aside, my kids were glued to the story and we had a great discussion afterwards. The writing is brisk and fun and subtle, leaving plenty to the readers' assumptions. The black and white pictures are adorable, detailed, and full of expression. Really, not many people write like this anymore.

Harry the Dirty Dog was undoubtedly a favorite of my children 25 years ago. I read it over and over. Despite the repitition, I also love this book. There is a rhythmn to the prose that makes it as fun to read as it is to listen to. I'm thrilled to see it again so that I may purchase it for my grandchild.

Our household has the whole series of the Harry books and I wouldn't have it any other way! I found an old copy at the local library and the first night I read it my daughter didn't make a PEEP she was utterly captivated and shes 2 and a half for 3 months she'd call "Harry Harry Harry" just like in "Harry by the Sea". If you love dogs, you'll love Harry!